Are you happy with your job? Finding the right career is about doing lots of job dating and trying things out until you feel a spark. Photograph: ITV / Rex Features

How's work going? If people answered that question honestly, around three in five of them would say not so well, actually. But so many of those people looking for career change are unsure how to go about it.

Laura van Bouchout was one of them. In her late twenties, she had already had five jobs – most of which involved organising cultural events. She was utterly bored and in search of something more fulfilling so she decided to conduct an experiment. For her the thirtieth birthday present to herself she spent a whole year trying thirty different jobs by shadowing and volunteering – a kind of 'radical sabbatical'. Among other things, she managed a cat hotel, then spent a week following an MEP, and found that working in advertising was unexpectedly exhilarating.

What did she learn from her experience?

"The more jobs I tried, the more I realised it's not a rational process of listing criteria and finding a job that matches them", said Laura. "It's a bit like dating. When I was single I had a mental list of qualities I thought my boyfriend should have. But some guys who met all the criteria on my list did nothing for me. And at one point you find someone who doesn't meet half your checklist but blows you away. I think that's what you have to look for in a job." Finding the right career, she believes, "is not about thinking and planning, but about doing lots of job dating, trying things out until you feel a spark."

In the course of her thirty-job odyssey, Laura stumbled upon the most significant insight to have emerged from the latest research into career change: act first, think later.

The biggest mistake people make in career change is to follow the traditional 'plan then implement' model. You draw up lists of personal strengths, weaknesses and ambitions – perhaps with the help of a personality test. You then match your profile to particular professions and start sending out applications. But there's a problem: it typically doesn't work. You might get a new job, but despite your expectations, it is unlikely to be fulfilling.

We need to turn this model on its head. Instead of thinking then acting, we should follow Laura's advice, acting first then reflecting later. Just as we can't learn carpentry by reading a book, we can't shift careers without taking practical action.

Identify a range of 'possible selves' – careers that might offer a sense of fulfilment, reflecting your talents, values or passions. Then you need to experiment with them in that unnerving place called the real world. Get out there and volunteer, shadow or take a training course, immersing yourself in experimental learning.

As organisational behaviour expert, Herminia Ibarra, argues: "the only way to create change is to put our possible identities into practice, working and crafting them until they are sufficiently grounded in experience to guide more decisive steps. We learn who we are by testing reality, not by looking inside." A fatal error job-seekers make is "to delay taking the first step until they have settled on a destination".

For many people, of course, the idea of taking a radical sabbatical is too risky or intimidating. Laura supported herself by working part-time during her year-long experiment, but not everyone has that option.

There is, however, an alternative way to 'act first and think later'. You don't need to dramatically resign from your job on Monday morning and step out into the unknown. Instead you can pursue what are called branching projects or temporary assignments on the side of your existing job.

Disenchanted with marketing or banking? Then try teaching yoga or doing freelance web design on the weekends. If you enjoy it, keep doing more until you have the courage to leave your old job behind you. If it doesn't provide a spark, try something else.

In effect, you will have taken a number of small steps resulting in a big change, circumventing our natural aversion to risk. It may take some time to work your way through the several possible selves, but there is compelling evidence that it is a necessary part of successful change. "We short circuit it at our peril," warns Ibarra.

Now is the time to challenge yourself. What is your first branching project going to be? And what is the very first step you can take towards making it happen?